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Saturday, November 14, 2015

INSPIRATION A to Z (K - Knowledge)

This post is the eleventh in a blog series where I’m exploring various aspects of INSPIRATION. When I chose INSPIRATION as my word for this year, my first thoughts were about finding, acting on and (in some cases) limiting INSPIRATION.
I also knew I wanted this word to motivate me not only in my
scrapbooking and crafting but also in my physical, spiritual and
intellectual goals. During my FUN year last year, I published a two-week
series entitled Where Does My Inspiration Come From?, which looked at the many different sources of INSPIRATION
specifically for scrapbook layouts. However, in this series, I’ll be
sharing a word for each letter of the alphabet (from A to Z) that relates to INSPIRATION along with my random and in-depth thoughts on that word and the various ways it relates to INSPIRATION in our lives.

K is for Knowledge

Knowledge is defined as "information, understanding, or skill that you get from experience or education" and "awareness of something" and "thebodyoftruthsorfactsaccumulatedinthecourseoftime." In essence, Knowledge is obtained by becoming familiar with something through experience or association.

I am a huge proponent of life-long learning, so my desire to learn is the INSPIRATION for acquiring more Knowledge about a particular subject or skill. We gain Knowledgethrough experience, practice, questioning, experimentation, reading, observation, listening, and study. I enjoy reading and studying about various subjects, which is one way to become familiar with a subject. However, I believe that when we experience something personally, we gain more Knowledge.As we've watched some of the tragic news coming from Paris, France, this weekend, our hearts are filled with sorrow and sympathy for the people there who have lost loved ones as well as for those throughout the city and country who are feeling the effects of these devastating attacks. While I am praying for all those affected, I am reminded of the attacks here in the states on September 11, 2001.I was teaching classes at a community college in Texas the morning of the attacks, so in a sense I was well removed from the actual events. However, the shock, sorrow, fear, and anger spread through our community as we all watched the news for days on end. The spirit of patriotism was strong and gatherings for prayer were abundant. Living through this experience is what gives me Knowledge about the events that occurred that day. Obviously I do not have all the information available about those attacks and everyone involved, but I have a familiarity that will remain with me always.As I mentioned when I wrote about Experiences for this blog series, often we find INSPIRATION to visit a particular place in order to learn (or gain more Knowledge) about something. On our vacation last month, we stopped to visit the Flight 93 Memorial in southwestern Pennsylvania. This is the location where the plane crashed when the passengers and crew of Flight 93 attempted to overtake the terrorists that intended to fly this plane into the U.S Capitol. There is a wall at the Memorial site with the names of each passenger and crew member who lost their life as the plane crashed into a field.

Even though I'd seen footage of the site and heard and read this story numerous times, it still brought tears to my eyes to look down the path of the crash site.

The heroics of those on Flight 93 as well as so very many others across our nation that day is something we'll always remember.

I believe it is also important that we share our Knowledge with others, particularly younger generations. As we approached the memorial, we took time to read (once again) about the attacks on America. I love this photo showing our youngest nephew looking to see the spot that is shown in the photo. He's very observant, and I believe this experience will help him better understand the events of a day that happened long before he was born.

And although we were somber as we read the names of those who lost their lives, we were also able to enjoy the fact that we could stop and pay tribute to those brave men and women. We have a US Parks passport book that has spaces for stamps showing when and where we've visited nationals parks and monuments throughout the states. I love the fact that our nephews will be able to look back and remember visiting these places and gaining more Knowledge about our country and its history.

This post took a little different turn as I wrote today because my heart is heavy knowing that another country has been hit with a terrorist attack that will leave repercussions on the lives of so many, but I hope that somehow this still brings together Knowledge and INSPIRATION in our daily lives.

In summary, the desire for Knowledge often provides the INSPIRATION needed for acquiring that Knowledge.What's your favorite way to gain Knowledge? Please share your thoughts on Knowledge and INSPIRATION in the comments. Click HERE to see all my INSPIRATION A-Z posts, or click a
letter below to see individual posts.

My heart is heavy with grief for the people of Paris and the other countries that have been attacked recently. One of the hardest parts is explaining this to our youth. I know my boys have a hard time understand why someone would do this and trying to explain without making them afraid to live is so hard. I pray that the leaders of the world can set aside their differences and focus of the common enemy.

To answer your question. I love to gain knowledge by reading and going to places. We love visiting museums, parks and other places of history.

I too have a heavy heart this weekend ... but I have been moved by the response across the world. The BBC put together a montage (here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34824358) of the solidarity across the world, and the knowledge of this has been comforting :). I guess I get my knowledge through reading and listening to others, and to myself. Self knowledge is extremely important to me.

I echo Sian's comment: endlessly sad and so pointless. So many lives devastated. I get my knowledge from reading, discussions with other, travel, and occasionally television. Episodes like this and the conflicts all over the globe make one think twice about traveling. But then, all you have to be is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that could be on the street corner of your own city.

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